Nr. 165 - MEMMINGER HÜTTE

From this and other contemporary letrets, editorials, and speeches, it should be clear that slavery was the underlying issue, although it wasn't the only issue. Why didn't the war take place earlier when slavery was in existence? It took other factors, such as the struggle over the territories, the economic growth of the North, the split of the Democrats, and the rise of a sectional party to bring things to a head. All these factors are mentioned in South Carolina's declaration.The reason that some white southerners deny that slavery was the issue is that they don't want to admit that their ancestors were fighting for slavery. But why men fought for or against the Union is a separate question. Most Confederates supported the institution but didn't own slaves. But the reasons men fought were many: slavery, state patriotism, resentment at the North, and group pressure. In the border states things get even more confusing, with slaveholders fighting for the Union and non-slaveholders fighting for the South.It should be an interesting four years until 2015.